Acretongue - Ghost Nocturne

2019-01-18 (News)

It has taken Nico J. seven years to find the sound and the shape of a successor for his brilliant debut album "Strange Cargo", released in 2011. Now the long awaited "Ghost Nocturne" will see the light of day, and the record matches the high expectations with ease. "Hypnotic" is the first word that comes to mind, when you intend to describe the music's reach and effect, but "Ghost Nocturne" branches out from there into different territory. Slowly, steadily, carefully Nico J expands his musical horizon.

A dreamlike, hypnotic state always seems to be the entry point of Acretongue's musical effects, but "Ghost Nocturne" is more diverse than its predecessor. Not only in terms of the vocals, which come across more varied, but also in the different ways in which it sets up its rhythmic structure and pace. The compositions surround its listeners like dreams, sometimes weird, sometimes upbeat, sometimes in slow pace, but always with surreal yet careful electronic precision and warmth. An electronic music Nocturne.

"I tend to get more done at night than during the day. I also don't sleep too well, so most of this album was conceived either late at night or during the early hours of the morning. Working with all this silence around, I often felt as if I'm a ghost just drifting through a desert in the middle of the night - the only one around for miles - quiet, peaceful, dark. That's where the idea for the album concept and title came from. The term Nocturne usually refers to a musical composition that is inspired by, or that evokes images of the night. The name was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensemble piece in several movements, normally played for an evening party and then laid aside.

Strange things can also creep up due to the lack of sleep and as a result some of the tracks are very introspective - you tend to contemplate quite a few things with only the silence. Other tracks are more conceptual, but all are somehow connected to the main concept, whether it is through lyrics or specific sounds, all have an element of night in them." Nico J.

Dawn Of Ashes - The Crypt Injection II (Non Serviam)

2019-01-11 (News)

Dawn Of Ashes returns with "The Crypt Injection II (Non Serviam)". Dawn of Ashes has returned to the band's roots of the Industrial and Dark-Electro sound. After many years, Dawn Of Ashes has decided to return to the old sound while being in the new.
The Crypt Injection II returns to the old sound of the first Crypt Injection with a hybrid sound of Industrial Metal. Dawn Of Ashes awakens the fire within the downfall of our society and shows the darkness that opens the true meaning of Rebellion.
 

Oomph! - Ritual

2019-01-07 (News)

Reinvention and continuity – Oomph! have been synonymous with self-renewal, pioneer spirit and carefree creativity for almost three decades. The Germans have been raised on EBM, rock and new wave, accidentally started a new subgenre in the 90's (the so-called Neue Deutsche Härte that influenced Rammstein and many more) and were crossover when crossover wasn`t even born.
Many years later legions of fans with varied musical backgrounds are hooked and the band is no stranger to the highest chart positions – Dero, Flux and Crap were awarded their first gold record for Wahrheit oder Pflicht in 2004.

The trio is now ready to release its thirteenth longplayer "Ritual" that is poised to catch the listener offguard, "Our most aggressive, heaviest and darkest album in a while", singer Dero states truthfully. The fuming and pounding triumvirate ‘Tausend Mann und ein Befehl‘, ‘Achtung! Achtung!‘ and ‘Kein Liebeslied‘ delivers the goods in stomping old school fashion, but after a breathless start it`s time for the über-catchy ‘Europa‘ (feat. Chris Harms / Lord Of The Lost) and the dancefloor monster ‘Im Namen des Vaters‘. Batshit insane electro tune ‘TRRR – FCKN – HTLR‘ curiously marks the only tongue-in-cheek entry on the otherwise rather stern Ritual that tackles politics, war and abuse. Eloquent, controversial, erratic and inescapable - Oomph! came up with a stunning and mature masterpiece that makes peace with the band`s past and sets new impulses.

Hante. - Fierce

2019-01-04 (News)

Hante. is a one woman project from the Paris. Hante. while on the surface striking, cold, and synthetic, it becomes immediately evident that this unique blend of darkwave and striking electronics is also revealing, offering deep emotion and intimacy.
The beautiful new album, "Fierce", showcases an artist of passion and emotional depth using her music to face her fears.

Rome - Le Ceneri di Heliodoro

2018-12-28 (News)

ROME – a city under siege. A city in flames. It remains impossible for the beholder to discern the parties at war, but it is obvious that the whole continent is in uproar. On 'Le Ceneri di Heliodoro' ('The ashes of Heliodoro'), Rome's mastermind Jerome Reuter does not shy away from the provocative and ambiguous and thus tackles new terrain and touchy subject matters such as Europe's dissolving unity, or its relations to the US and the fragile fraternity of its nations. The questions of continuity and identity have marked this decade of decline and have left an undeniable impression on Reuter's work. But what will come of this mysterious Heliodoro - prophet or demon, saviour or slayer? Reuter leaves these - as most other questions - unanswered in this neofolk tour de force.

This 13th album, indeed, marks a return to the martial folk origins of the project and it is a grim and bleak picture Reuter is painting in these poignant folk songs. We are left with having but one choice: to try and find the necessary strength within ourselves, if we are to survive this turmoil. Thus, inevitably, the album is also an homage to Rome's unique brand of outsiderdom. We are left breathless. The city is alight in flames, delighting our eye in the beauty of its ruin. Uropia O Morte!

Joachim Witt - Rubezahl

2018-12-14 (News)

Joachim Witt is a legendary fixture in German music history, having played a decisive role in the creation and development of modern German music. After starting his career as the guitarist/singer in the 1970's Krautrock band Duesenberg. Witt embarked on a long and celebrated solo career as a singer and actor. He was one of the biggest names of the "Neue Deutsche Welle" (New German Wave) movements in the 80's, as well as one of the originators of Neue Deutsche Harrte (German for "New German Hardness) a crossover of metal, industrial, electronics, and techno elements that developed in Germany during the mid-1990's. Witt has been noted as an influence on bands such as Rammstein, Eisbrecher, Oomph!, Unheilig, and many more.

Over his prolific career, Witt has released 16 albums. Starting with his breakthrough 1980 album Silberblick, containing the single Der Goldene Reiter, he continues to create through such highlights as his 1998 smash Bayreuth I and the platinum DOM in 2012.
Witt built a particularly close connection with his fans on his last albums ICH and THRON, through a crowdfunding campaign to work independently on his distinct musical vision. This is how the latest work of the exceptional artist was created: "Rubezahl"- melancholic, magical and dark. In collaboration with Lord Of The Lost mastermind Chris Harms as producer, "Rubezahl" is at once the gloomiest and most resplendent album in Witt's entire discography. The album is darkly romantic, moody, spirited, rigorous, proud, and powerful, moving like a musical storm across legendary mountains. Witt's distinct voice and grandiose lyrics hold court throughout, be it over menacing synthesizer sounds and brute guitars, or a delicate romantic ballad such as Mein Diamant or through a wall of sound and textures on Ich Will Leben and the grand-scale production of Quo Vadis.

With themes of legend, songs of demons, giants,  mountain spirits, and romantic naturalism, "Rubezahl" proves a work of art as distinguished as its creator, the venerable Joachim Witt.